Michael B. Jordan Will Be the Busiest Actor Alive in 2018

Every year, there’s an actor whose slate is so impossibly full that it defies logic. Think Jessica Chastain’s glorious ascent in 2011, when she went from little-known Juilliard grad to Oscar nominee after a slew of simultaneously released films, or Nicole Kidman, who had not one, but four projects debut at the Cannes Film Festival—right after the celebrated release of her HBO miniseries Big Little Lies. Last year belonged to Michael Shannon, who appeared in eight (eight) movies, including Oscar-nominated fare like Loving. In 2015, Alicia Vikander was the one to watch, starring in a batch of major movies that would lead to her first Oscar win, for The Danish Girl.

And next year, the stars are aligning for leading man Michael B. Jordan, who just signed on for a new film: a legal drama titled Just Mercy, according to Variety. Based on the book of the same name, the story follows a young lawyer who founds the Equal Justice Initiative, a project that aims to provide legal services to people who need them most. Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) will direct, based on a script by Andrew Lanham (The Glass Castle).

Just Mercy will have to edge its way onto Jordan’s extraordinarily full slate. His teeming schedule for next year already includes—deep breath, please—an adaptation of Fahrenheit 451, a Creed sequel, a teacher drama titled Wrong Answer (directed by frequent collaborator Ryan Coogler and written by Ta-Nehisi Coates), and a new superhero series on Netflix. He’s also producing a series for OWN with Oscar-winner Tarell Alvin McCraney, and is set to make his directorial debut with The Stars Beneath Our Feet, based on the novel of the same name. “Directing has been an area I’ve wanted to explore for some time now,” he recently told Deadline.

Jordan’s year will also begin with a bang. Black Panther, the long-awaited adaptation of the Marvel classic, will hit theaters next February, which means we’ll soon see a whole lot of the young actor on the press circuit—every red carpet, every late-night couch, every morning-talk-show chair. The man will be busy. That alone would be a lot for an actor to handle, but Jordan apparently seems set on creating a superhero-worthy schedule.

Of course, the ultimate timeline for some of these projects remains unclear. Creed 2, for example, doesn’t have any firm details beyond the fact that Sylvester Stallone will direct it, and it will bow in theaters on November 21, 2018. Still, Jordan is setting himself up for a packed year that will make up for his relatively quiet 2017. The actor hasn’t starred in any films or TV shows released in the past 12 months, instead focusing on wrapping Black Panther and making a little time for Vogue’s 73 Questions series. But rest assured, Jordan fans: the drought is almost over.

Amy Poehler

There would be no Upright Citizens Brigade without Poehler, who co-founded the comedy troupe with seven other performers in Chicago in 1990. A pared-down version of the group would eventually open their own theater in New York in 1999, giving a platform to thousands of up-and-comers in the years since.

Photo: By Colleen Hayes/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images.

Matt Walsh

The Veep star is another original U.C.B. member: “We didn’t really have a plan, truthfully,” he told Uproxx of the troupe’s early days in New York. “We just started teaching classes and it evolved into a school.”

Photo: By Colleen Hayes/HBO.

Donald Glover

As an N.Y.U. student, the future Atlanta auteur studied at the U.C.B. Theatre. His work paid off; his senior year, he was hired to write for a new NBC series called 30 Rock.

Photo: By Guy D’Alema/FX.

Kate McKinnon

The S.N.L. standout spent enough time at the U.C.B. Theatre in her early days to stage three solo shows; she was also a member of sketch teams called High Treason, Beneath Gristedes, Tremendous Machine, and Gramps.

Photo: By Will Heath/NBC.

Aubrey Plaza

Plaza elected to attend N.Y.U. in part so she would have easy access to U.C.B. classes; before long, she scored her breakout role on Parks and Recreation, co-starring with U.C.B. royalty Amy Poehler.

Photo: By Tyler Golden/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images.

Nick Kroll

Kroll Show characters like Fabrice Fabrice have their origins in Kroll’s U.C.B. shows: “We were walking around talking about his name and I think we saw some Febreze, and then it became Fabrice,” he told the A.V. Club in 2014.

Photo: By Ron Batzforff/Comedy Central/Everett Collection.

Ed Helms

The future star of The Office and The Hangover was instantly pulled in by the U.C.B. Theatre: “They had the thing that drew me to comedy in the first place: that energy when somebody’s putting it all out there, acting like a massive jackass, with no reservations. It was something that scared the shit out of me, and therefore I had to try it,” he told New York.

Photo: By Frank Masi/Warner Bros./Everett Collection.

Amy Poehler

There would be no Upright Citizens Brigade without Poehler, who co-founded the comedy troupe with seven other performers in Chicago in 1990. A pared-down version of the group would eventually open their own theater in New York in 1999, giving a platform to thousands of up-and-comers in the years since.

By Colleen Hayes/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images.

Matt Walsh

The Veep star is another original U.C.B. member: “We didn’t really have a plan, truthfully,” he told Uproxx of the troupe’s early days in New York. “We just started teaching classes and it evolved into a school.”

By Colleen Hayes/HBO.

Donald Glover

As an N.Y.U. student, the future Atlanta auteur studied at the U.C.B. Theatre. His work paid off; his senior year, he was hired to write for a new NBC series called 30 Rock.

By Guy D’Alema/FX.

Kate McKinnon

The S.N.L. standout spent enough time at the U.C.B. Theatre in her early days to stage three solo shows; she was also a member of sketch teams called High Treason, Beneath Gristedes, Tremendous Machine, and Gramps.

By Will Heath/NBC.

Aziz Ansari

Before he was a Master of None, this Emmy winner was trying out stand-up in U.C.B. shows with titles like Aziz Ansari Punched a Wall, Aziz Ansari Hates Driving, and Aziz Ansari Isn’t Fucking Around Anymore.

From Netflix.

Ellie Kemper

Before scoring a part on The Office and her own show in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Kemper was a U.C.B. mainstay who was not afraid to go for broke on stage: during one memorable scene, she told New York magazine, “We were all on the ground, and I was laughing so hard, I wet my pants. And my teammate was dragging me across the stage, and there was a streak. I don’t know if anyone saw it.”

By Eric Liebowitz/Netflix.

Zach Woods

Woods honed the improvisational skills he shows off on Silicon Valley at U.C.B., as a member of improv group The Stepfathers.

By John P. Johnson/HBO.

Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson

Glazer and Jacobson met when each was trying to score a coveted spot on one of the theater’s house teams; after they failed, they decided to start their own Web series, Broad City. The rest is history.

From Comedy Central/Everett Collection.

Aubrey Plaza

Plaza elected to attend N.Y.U. in part so she would have easy access to U.C.B. classes; before long, she scored her breakout role on Parks and Recreation, co-starring with U.C.B. royalty Amy Poehler.

By Tyler Golden/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images.

Nick Kroll

Kroll Show characters like Fabrice Fabrice have their origins in Kroll’s U.C.B. shows: “We were walking around talking about his name and I think we saw some Febreze, and then it became Fabrice,” he told the A.V. Club in 2014.

By Ron Batzforff/Comedy Central/Everett Collection.

Ed Helms

The future star of The Office and The Hangover was instantly pulled in by the U.C.B. Theatre: “They had the thing that drew me to comedy in the first place: that energy when somebody’s putting it all out there, acting like a massive jackass, with no reservations. It was something that scared the shit out of me, and therefore I had to try it,” he told New York.